Cop askes man for I.D., man grabs I.D. as instructed, cop shoots man

[Jazzy]

Sean Groubert, 31, a South Carolina State Trooper with a medal of valor, has been charged with aggravated assault and battery after shooting an innocent man who was merely grabbing his wallet and I.D. as the cop instructed.

This all took place in the parking lot of a local gas station after the victim, Levar Jones, 35 was pulled over in the evening hours for a seat belt violation.

CNN reported:

When Groubert asks for Jones’ license, Jones pivots toward the vehicle he just exited — the driver’s door is still open — and leans inside as if to retrieve something, the video shows.

About two seconds later, the trooper that police identify as Groubert comes into view with a gun drawn and yells “Get out of the car! Get out of the car!” The gun is fired — at least four shots are heard — and Jones steps away from the vehicle, raising his hands in the air and eventually moving off camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBUUO_VFYMs

According to the report, Jones was hit in the hip and survived the shooting.

Source

Does this sound/look like aggravated assault and battery to you?

 

[DrLeftover]

The cop was trigger happy, there is no doubt there.

But "aggravated assault and battery"?

No.

Assault With A Deadly Weapon / Attempted Murder, is more like it.

 

[Dee]

What a piece of shit, lousy excuse for a police man and a human being. The man immediately obeyed orders and threw his hands into the air WITH his back to the officer! Most definitely way too trigger happy, although I know they'll argue, "Well he turned his back on me and reached into the car, blah blah blah, he couldn've been reaching for a gun for all I know. I swear to God I'm not racist! I have black friends!" Seriously, though, this cop needs to be taken off the force, and they need to train their officers to give better instructions to the people they pull over. Having the driver turn back into the vehicle to grab something almost feels like the officer was giving himself a reason to shoot in case the man did go into his car to pull out a gun. What a load of bullshit. This officer needs to be prosecuted, badge taken away, and possible jail time. The LEAST they can do for this man is pay his medical bills and not stick him with the financial burden of some trigger-happy cop whose authority has gone to his head.

 

[Webster]

I'm of two minds here...and, before y'all charge at me w/pitchforks, here me out on this one. On the one hand, that trooper needs to, at the very least, have his badge and weapon taken from him, permanently; there's no excuse for his actions whatsoever and, along those lines, there needs to be a wholesale retraining of all S.C. state troopers on the use of less-than-lethal equipment and weaponry.

On the other hand, I can almost imagine what Mr. Groubert's attorney will likely say in front of a trial jury; it'll be one of - or both - of these: (a)at the time of the incident, my client, the video notwithstanding, believed that the victim was reaching back inside his vehicle for a weapon and reacted to the best of his training and that (b)what if it were you in my client's position; what would you have done in his place? Given the extreme deference that trial juries - not to mention the criminal justice system in general - give to law enforcement, at all levels, this wouldn't surprise me one bit.

That said, I too hope that Mr. Groubert goes away for a long time; his actions were unjustified and criminal; I just thought I'd play devil's advocate here.

 

[Dee]

I'm of two minds here...and, before y'all charge at me w/pitchforks, here me out on this one. On the one hand, that trooper needs to, at the very least, have his badge and weapon taken from him, permanently; there's no excuse for his actions whatsoever and, along those lines, there needs to be a wholesale retraining of all S.C. state troopers on the use of less-than-lethal equipment and weaponry.

On the other hand, I can almost imagine what Mr. Groubert's attorney will likely say in front of a trial jury; it'll be one of - or both - of these: (a)at the time of the incident, my client, the video notwithstanding, believed that the victim was reaching back inside his vehicle for a weapon and reacted to the best of his training and that (b)what if it were you in my client's position; what would you have done in his place? Given the extreme deference that trial juries - not to mention the criminal justice system in general - give to law enforcement, at all levels, this wouldn't surprise me one bit.

That said, I too hope that Mr. Groubert goes away for a long time; his actions were unjustified and criminal; I just thought I'd play devil's advocate here.

I agree with you Webster, but I still don't agree that he was "right'--by any means--when arguing that he was just going by his training. The bigger picture here is that we need to find a way to train our cops better. I completely understand needing to be cautious when it comes to asking individuals to do something that may put them in a situation where the police officer's life could be put in danger. But is responding to the worst possible scenario in ANY situation the officer faces the best answer? No, not in this case. An innocent man was needlessly shot because an officer "responded to the best of his training". This officer assumed this man was going to hurt or kill him, and he reacted very quickly on the wrong assumption, which has now injured a man and caused headache for an entire family. And for what? Because the man he pulled over was following orders.

This police department needs to train its officers better because they are the ones out there supposedly protecting and serving us. This is NOT an example of protecting and serving anyone but themselves.

 

[+paradox]

Sounds like this moron of a cop knows he fucked up when I hear him repeatedly tell the man he's got help coming for him. 4 or 5 times the victim says, "You told me to get my license I go to get my license and you shot me!" This cop needs to have his badge and his gun taken from him, right NOW. I hope the victim and his family sues the police department there to DEATH. Fuckin' asshole cops running the streets are worse than the criminals in some places!

The cop was trigger happy, there is no doubt there.

But "aggravated assault and battery"?

No.

Assault With A Deadly Weapon / Attempted Murder, is more like it.

What a piece of shit, lousy excuse for a police man and a human being. The man immediately obeyed orders and threw his hands into the air WITH his back to the officer! Most definitely way too trigger happy, although I know they'll argue, "Well he turned his back on me and reached into the car, blah blah blah, he couldn've been reaching for a gun for all I know. I swear to God I'm not racist! I have black friends!" Seriously, though, this cop needs to be taken off the force, and they need to train their officers to give better instructions to the people they pull over. Having the driver turn back into the vehicle to grab something almost feels like the officer was giving himself a reason to shoot in case the man did go into his car to pull out a gun. What a load of bullshit. This officer needs to be prosecuted, badge taken away, and possible jail time. The LEAST they can do for this man is pay his medical bills and not stick him with the financial burden of some trigger-happy cop whose authority has gone to his head.

I'm of two minds here...and, before y'all charge at me w/pitchforks, here me out on this one. On the one hand, that trooper needs to, at the very least, have his badge and weapon taken from him, permanently; there's no excuse for his actions whatsoever and, along those lines, there needs to be a wholesale retraining of all S.C. state troopers on the use of less-than-lethal equipment and weaponry.

On the other hand, I can almost imagine what Mr. Groubert's attorney will likely say in front of a trial jury; it'll be one of - or both - of these: (a)at the time of the incident, my client, the video notwithstanding, believed that the victim was reaching back inside his vehicle for a weapon and reacted to the best of his training and that (b)what if it were you in my client's position; what would you have done in his place? Given the extreme deference that trial juries - not to mention the criminal justice system in general - give to law enforcement, at all levels, this wouldn't surprise me one bit.

That said, I too hope that Mr. Groubert goes away for a long time; his actions were unjustified and criminal; I just thought I'd play devil's advocate here.

what great posts there smooth, doc, dee and webster, i 100% agree...

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

To me this just looks like a guy who just does not have the nerves to be a cop. Got scared, panicked and probably actually thought something bad was happening and shot the poor guy before thinking through what his reaction should be. I do not see racism but instead someone who should be working at a desk instead of in the field with a gun. Unless more evidence comes out against him that he was just itching to shoot someone I do not think criminal charges are the right thing to do against him.

 

[DrLeftover]

Oh, one other thing.

You need to carry your ID on you so you don't have to crawl back inside your car to look for it.

However, in this case, with that chucklehead cop, he probably would have ended up shot anyway.